Jones gained notoriety by voting for the Iraq war and then turning into one of its biggest opponents in the GOP.

The district includes most of the Tar Heel State's eastern seaboard including the Outer Banks.

Griffin will run as a "real conservative," he told Politico. "California should have the most liberal Republican [House member], not eastern North Carolina."

Griffin said he has received strong support for his bid. "I started spending time here with grass-roots activists and civic leaders and fishermen and asking them about it, and they all told me that they’d like me to run."